Unseen Warhol
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism
Unseen Warhol Details
Review Two of Warhol's former assistants have collected his unseen works into a package which contains gifts the artist gave to his close friends and associates. These are paired with recollections and histories to provide an intriguing new angle on Warhol's art and times, creating a unique catalog which will prove essential to any student of Warhol's art. -- Midwest Book Review Read more About the Author Unseen Warhol's co-authors were studio assistants to Warhol in the 1980's. During that time John O'Connor was also advertising art director at Warhol's Interview. After receiving his master's from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard, he went on to become art director for the Harvard Business Review. His books include Philip Johnson: The Architect in His Own Words, co-authored by Hilary Lewis, which received an AIA International Architecture Book Award in 1995.Benjamin Liu, who was personal assistant to the artist in the 1980's, is presently a creative services consultant to numerous American and international fashion companies. He is also a freelance contributor for Japanese art and style publications. Read more
Reviews
This book is a genuine pleasure to read, and a trove of insights into an Andy Warhol that really hasn't been masticated to death in every other book about Warhol. It was compiled by two relatively late-comers to the Warhol scene (Ming Vase, and one of the Artistic Directors of 'Interview'), but it encompasses aspects of Andy from his first days in New York right up to the end. The construction of the book is such that each chapter is based around the discussion of experiences and impressions of Andy and the Andy 'scene' by various individuals who worked with, socialized with, or dealt with Andy. Some of these narrators are people so peripheral to Andy's orbit that only the hardcore Warholphiliac will recognize their names. Others are people whose names come up in even the most casual examination of Andy Warhol's life and work, and a couple are people whom no one has heard of. Because the authors know many of the subjects of the book the discussions can take on the aspect of intimate conversation. This is nice, especially to one who has vicariously lived the events spoken of through deep immersion in the literature and media surrounding Andy Warhol and the Pop Art Explosion he detonated. This is one of the best books about Andy that was not written by him, and if you are right into his art and life then it is a must read. If there is any theme that the authors of the book wish to stress it is that Andy was a spiritual person. I'm unsure if their efforts convinced me, but I must say that they revealed facets of the Andy Warhol experience that heretofore I was not aware of.